Porto turn down Chelsea’s £15m bid for Alvara Pereira

Transfer Talk: Villas-Boas hopes to renew friendship with Porto defender – but
can he afford to pay more?

Chelsea have admitted they've made an offer for Porto defender Alvaro Pereira. According to the Daily Mail, the Blues have bid £15m for the 25-year-old wing-back who cemented his reputation as a defender of fine repute while playing for Uruguay during the recent Copa America tournament.

New Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas worked with Pereira during his spell in charge of Porto and he's keen to renew their friendship in west London. "The only thing I can confirm to you is that we have made a bid for him and we are very far apart in terms of numbers," said Villas-Boas, a reference to the transfer fee which he refused to discuss.

Villas-Boas said only that he hoped a deal could be reached before the end of the transfer window but that he was "not very confident".

However, the Sun says that Porto refused the offer on Thursday evening and quotes Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinta da Costa as saying: "It took just 30 seconds to turn it down. Every player who has an escape clause in his contract can leave if somebody makes us an offer that matches that fee. But for Pereira, that escape clause is 30 million euros."

Whether Chelsea can afford £25m having already spent £50m this summer on Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu, might depend on whether they push on with their attempt to sign Luka Modric from Spurs. But that looks unlikely after Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was asked about Modric's future following Spurs' Europa League tie with Hearts: "He'll stay," replied Redknapp. "It [the speculation] is finished."

From one possible future Chelsea player to a past one. Lassana Diarra has told Spanish rag AS that he wants to remain at Real Madrid despite rumours linking him with a move to Spurs.

Diarra, who played for Chelsea and Arsenal before moving to Spain, has been linked with the Lilywhites. But the 26-year-old midfielder has this message for the north London club: "The information on my exit is untrue. I don't have any agreement with Tottenham, and I do not believe that I will have one." That contradicts reports which emerged earlier in the week suggesting Spurs and Real had agreed a £10m deal for the Frenchman.

The fate of Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton remains a mystery despite his trip to QPR to undergo a medical. The 28-year-old Barton had been widely expected to announce his move to the London club but instead he left QPR boss Neil Warnock unsure of his plans by telling reporters yesterday: "I am not sure [if I will sign]. There are a number of things still to be sorted out and it is a process that you have to take step by step."

The uncertainty deepened a few hours later when Barton took to twitter to tell his followers: "Need some thinking time and space."

According to the Metro, QPR are also hoping to sign West Ham captain Scott Parker and Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole in the coming days. Rangers have already had one offer of £4m for Parker rejected by the Hammers but the Metro says they're soon to return with a bigger bid for the England playmaker.

Talksport claims that Manchester City still haven't finished spending, just 48 hours after they splashed out £24m on Arsenal's Samir Nasri. Apparently the Sky Blues are in a tussle with Roma for the services of Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago. The Argentine international is a favourite of City boss Roberto Mancini and according to Talksport he first tried to sign him in early 2010. That attempt failed but now Mancini is ready to outbid Roma for the 25-year-old star.

Finally, German rag Bild says that Wolfsburg are after Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky. Having just lost Diego to Atletico Madrid, the German outfit are in need of a creative force in the centre of the park – which begs the question, why Rosicky? The 30-year-old has hardly set north London alight in the last couple of years but, according to Bild, Rosicky's agent was in Germany earlier in the week to discuss terms with Wolfsburg.